


Coerced Confessions

by Yve



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory 4
Genre: Love Confession, M/M, These two dorks, yep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 19:37:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4032115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yve/pseuds/Yve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alright, this is a fic for my friend and fellow RF fan. She knows who she is. She won the Spring Fever event raffle I hosted on Tumblr a few weeks ago, and now She's getting her prize: A one-shot about her OTP, Doug and Dylas!</p><p>(I also used my two favorite characters to help out in this story and give Doug a much-needed push. I hope you don't mind! >u</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coerced Confessions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dougxdylas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dougxdylas/gifts).



“Damn…”

A short young man with crimson hair and pointed ears stalked along the westerly road from Selphia castle to the housing district, kicking vindictively at small stones along the cobblestone path and frowning down at his feet.

“Damn damn damn…” He continued in frustrated tones to himself. To either side of him as he walked along in his moody posture the many freshwater canals and tributaries shimmered in the bright, vivid summer sunlight. The silhouettes of fish could be seen flitting about beneath the shining surface of the water. All in all it was a glorious day, which could not account for his stormy mood.

The question of whether to leap or flee, only to approach the same precipice time and time again is naturally one that breeds frustration and malcontent. There is no going back once certain words have crossed your lips. Upon that moment, the world changes a little and isn’t what it was anymore. Not knowing whether that change would be a good one was what held him back. But returning to this question every day and every day imagining one outcome and then another, bouncing between hope and dread, was sure to drive him crazy before much longer. The young man sighed audibly, his shoulders drooping.

Why was it so much harder to say ‘I love you’ than ‘I loathe you’ when in certain contexts they meant exactly the same thing? Maybe because by now he feared the object of his affection had begun to believe his animosity was genuine. He sighed again and looked up. The wide wooden door of the _Meanderer_ smithy with its heavy iron hinges and handle loomed up before him. He frowned at it. Lately his feet always seemed to lead him here when he was mulling over whether today was the day his world would change for better or for worse. It wasn’t that Bado, the town blacksmith was ever actually _helpful_. He had an obnoxious tendency to try and sell him some ridiculous and useless thing, claiming it _might_ help him find buried treasure or some such nonsense, but he couldn’t help feeling a sense of kinship to the only other dwarf in Selphia.

Who knew whether the unusually tall, indolent blacksmith considered the two of them friends at all, but he kept talking to him at least, and he didn’t seem to mind the visits, so the younger dwarf continued to walk here and idle away time while he avoided the one person he _really_ wanted to be talking to.

He grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. As the heavy wooden door swung out of the way to admit him into the overstocked little shop, two sounds struck his pointed ears. One, the familiar chime of the shop bell to announce the arrival of a customer blended interestingly with a fluttering, feminine laugh. He blinked as his eyes adjusted from the blazing summer sunlight to the comparatively dim interior of the room.

Across the room the sprightly princess of Selphia with her long, pale green pigtails was leaning on the shop counter, talking and laughing with the dark-haired giant of a man who owned the place, who in turn was leaning forward on his elbows as he grinned at her. At the sound of the bell, both straightened up sharply, the conversation and the laughter stopping suddenly as they turned toward the door. Bado cleared his throat and pulled at the point of his short, dark beard nervously.

“Heya, Doug.” He called, “Did’ya change your mind about the grow-taller potion? I’ve still got one left, but I’m afraid the price has gone up.” He winked at the smaller dwarf and off to his right, the corner of the diminutive woman’s mouth quirked upward in a smirk as her emerald-colored eyes sparkled with silent laughter. Doug blinked at her as he ignored the shopkeeper’s schemery. She held her hands behind her back like a child hiding a pilfered treat or toy and her cheeks were pink. He quirked an eyebrow, curiosity rising just barely strong enough to pull his attention momentarily from his current quandary.

“Hi, Frey.” He said in a somewhat distant voice. “What are you doin’ here?”

“How d’you like that?” Bado grumbled, folding his arms and scowling. “He’s ignoring me! And after I went to all that trouble to order this product specifically with him in mind.” He gestured in exasperation and Frey giggled, one hand rising to cover her grinning mouth with her slender fingertips. Doug’s eyebrows climbed higher on his forehead. His lips parted as he began to ask when the two of them had become so chummy as to collaborate on teasing him, but Frey interrupted his comment before it began, artfully dodging the impending query with one of her own.

“What’s got you thinking so hard, Doug?” She asked in that bright, musical voice of hers. He blinked. Was he that obvious, or was she very perceptive?

“Yeah, you look like you’re tryin’ to hold a buffamoo off the ground with just your mind, kid.” Bado agreed, “What’s the deal? Don’t you know stressin’ that hard’ll kill ya?”

“I…” Doug began, but trailed off immediately, hesitating to say what was on his mind so readily. He hurriedly strung together another thought as the pair of them raised their eyebrows and exchanged glances. “I was wondering if you have any charms for sale today?” He said, hoping it came across as a believable motivation.

“Sure thing, kid.” The tall man chuckled as he reached under the counter and brought up two small open boxes of embroidered charms of a vivid fuchsia color. One of the boxes was labelled ‘good luck charm’ and the other was labelled ‘anti-ghost charm’. Doug looked suspiciously from one box to the other.

“They look exactly the same.” He murmured. Frey leaned over and whispered loudly:

“That’s cause they _are_!”

“Hey, now!” Bado retorted indignantly, “Don’t go spilling secrets, princess!” She giggled again at the tall man’s expense but his annoyance was very clearly feigned. Not a drop of distaste colored his expression as he pretended half-heartedly to scowl at her. Doug shook off their banter, growing impatient.

“So what’s the point of buying either, then?” He asked with a little bite in his voice.

“Point is, kid,” Bado shrugged and gave a half-smile, “You can make a charm mean whatever you want it to mean.”

Doug furrowed his brow again.

“This is just another of your scams, isn’t it?” The taller dwarf put a big hand over his heart and donned a shocked expression.

“I’m _hurt_ , Doug! You know I don’t _scam_ people!” Doug rolled his eyes and Bado chuckled and dropped the act.

“It’s true though, kid. Charms are about what you want and what you want to believe. So, how about a love charm? You look like you could use one.” He grinned at Doug with a malevolent mirth in his blue-gray eyes.

“W-wha?” Doug blurted out, turning red. Bado’s grin grew wider and Frey rolled her eyes.

“C’mon, Doug. Everyone already knows. You might as well admit it and talk about it so you don’t explode. That or you could actually just _tell_ him!”

“I-I…” Doug stammered.

“See there? That’ why you need one of these. You’re hopeless!” Bado turned one of the boxes around and replaced the card that said ‘good luck charms’ with one that read ‘love charms’. Then he turned it back around and pushed it across the counter toward the younger dwarf. Somehow Doug managed to look incredulous at the shopkeeper despite his face blushing to a shade of red matching his hair.

“Still not on board, huh?” Bado said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. Then he brightened and snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it! They just need some of that good ol’ ‘love power’, eh?” He plucked up one of the charms and held it out on his wide palm in front of Frey’s face. She leaned back slightly and looked puzzled at him. He grinned, a silent laugh suspended behind his lips.

“Blow on it.” He instructed with an expectant little upward nod of his head. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Why?”

“You’re in love, right, Frey? What could be a more powerful charm than one blessed by a smitten princess?”

“Oh!!” She huffed indignantly, turning bright red and glaring at him. Bado threw his head back and laughed uproariously, filling up the room with the mirth in his deep-timbered voice.

“C’mon, little lady! You want horse-boy to accept Doug’s feelings, right? Help the guy out.” He plied. Doug’s stomach jumped into his throat. Gods and dragons! Was he really so transparent?

She continued to bend a furious expression at the tall dwarf and he, in turn, continued grinning at her expense. Doug looked between them once or twice, unable to keep himself from wondering just who Frey was apparently in love with, despite his own mortification paralyzing most of his brain, just now. She wouldn’t have reacted so strongly if it weren’t true, after all. He blinked as he looked back at Bado, who was determinedly holding Frey’s embarrassed glare as if it were a delectable treat. Then Doug noticed other dwarf’s pointed ears had blushed in concurrence with the princess’s cheeks.

Suddenly he was jerked from where he stood by a strong grip on his elbow.

“C’mon, Doug. You don’t need any of this doofus’s bogus merchandise to confess to Dylas. Let’s go find him.” She said haughtily, throwing the insult over her shoulder at the tall man, who looked entirely unfazed.

“Hey, bring me some customers when you come back, Frey!” He called as she tugged the door open with more force than was strictly necessary. Doug tried to make a variety of protests but all that came out were half words and stuttering. His face felt hot. Frey turned around and stuck her tongue out at the blacksmith, but he only laughed again. She finished storming out, dragging Doug with her.

Once outside, Doug found his tongue again, _finally_.

“Hey! Will ya take it easy?!” He pulled his arm back out of her grip and blinked at her. “What makes you think I wanna confess to D-Dylas, anyway?” She raised her eyebrows at him with a flat, bored look in her green eyes.

“Really, Doug? Just drop the denial. I think the only one in this whole town thick enough not to know how you feel about him is Dylas, himself.”

“I—“ He puffed up, trying to put together an insult about the tall half-monster that was the object of his affection, but then deflated with a sigh and looked defeated at the princess. “I… well… yeah.” She smiled approvingly.

“That’s more like it. Now if you can just do that when you’re talking to him I’ll bet you two will be an item by sundown.”

“That’s pretty fast, don’t you think?” He replied with nervous apprehension.

“Not at all! You two have been dragging your feet so long, the rest of us are sick and tired of it! Besides, the sooner you just tell him, the sooner you’ll have a hot boyfriend on your arm!” She winked at him and smirked wickedly as he flushed red again. He decided to strike back. It wasn’t fair that she was always embarrassing him after all.

“What about you, princess? What was that wily bastard getting at, in there? Who are _you_ in love with?” He bent a piercing gaze at her, but the sprightly young woman was impervious. She snapped her fingers and replied with a combination of indifference and impatience.

“Focus, Doug! We’re talking about getting you together with Dylas, right now.”

“Right…” He grumbled. He hadn’t set out today with the notion of having a coach to his still-hypothetical romantic endeavors, or an audience, for that matter. Did everyone in the town _really_ already know how badly he wanted to grab hold of that stubborn horse bastard and never let him go? He sighed, drooping a little more.

“What’s with you? Why so glum?” She barked the questions at him unsympathetically. He frowned at her in reply. She rolled her eyes and made an exasperated sound.

“Look, Doug.” She began with an air of very forced patience. “Maybe you don’t realize this since you’re also too dense to realize how obvious _you_ are, but Dylas is totally all about you, too.”

“What?!” Doug blurted out, his face burning. She gave him a flat look that said she was very nearly fed up with him and his crush. “S-sorry.” He hurried to say, “But do you really think so? I mean, He’s always calling me names and stuff.”

“What, you mean like _you_ do to him, too?” She said with a sarcastic tone. “And oh, wait, let’s not forget how _both_ of you snuck into each other’s places and left birthday gifts for one another in secret?”

“You kne—waitaminute! That rice bowl was from _him_??” Doug blinked furiously as this new information hit him.

“UUUGHHH.” Frey groaned and seized his arm again, dragging him down the street towards Porcoline’s restaurant. “Enough!” She barked. “I’m just going to throw you at him so we can all get on with our lives.”

“Heywait—uh F-Frey?! This really isn’t necessary!” He stammered as she pulled him with surprising strength inexorably towards his fate. Apparently, _today_ was the day he was going to find out how the world would change. Panic was bubbling up in his stomach. He wasn’t ready. No. It couldn’t be today. He needed more time. Time to think it over. Time to pick the perfect thing to say. Time to reconsider, even!

“Apparently it _is_ necessary. Bado’s been telling me how you’ve been moping around his shop all the time, lately, sighing and fretting and frowning and thinking. He’s not wrong, you know. You’re going to make yourself sick, at this rate, worrying about it so much. So, I’m doing you the favor of saving you from all that stress by making this happen, today!” She said somewhat imperiously.

“Yeah, but what about when I die of humiliation when he rejects me?” Doug hissed.

“UUGH!” She groaned again. “He’s not gonna reject you, Doug!” For heaven’s sake! How did you even _survive_ into adulthood being so oblivious?!” She tugged him along the paving stones of the Selphian roads for a few more paces. The slender woman was stronger than she looked! He squirmed and struggled to no avail, protesting with his tongue again when his feet failed him.

“Seriously, Frey—ungh—you can’t just _make_ me do this, ya know?!” He tried again to wriggle out of her grip but she spun him around and glared into his eyes.

“Oh, can’t I?” One side of her mouth rose into a wicked smile and her eyebrows bent in challenge to his last comment. She turned her head and made a show of looking up. He followed her gaze and his heart dropped into his stomach.

The huge lobster statues advertising Porcoline De Sainte Coquille’s famous restaurant loomed hugely above them. She’d dragged him all the way here, already? The sweat beads on Doug’s brow multiplied.

‘Oh no… not like this! Not where he _works_! Please no!’ He thought furiously, panicking.

“Oh, yes!” Frey said with a sinister level of satisfaction in her voice. “Today’s the day you find love, little dwarf, whether you want to or not; ‘cause if _you_ don’t tell Dylas you love him, _I_ will!” The malevolent grin on her face stretched wider as the color drained out of his face, and with that she propped him up in front of her and shoved him through the doors into the restaurant with both her hands at his back.

The chatter and bustle of the busy restaurant ceased instantly as every person in the room turned to look at him, with his face red enough to match his scarlet hair… even _him._

The tall, lithe figure of his crush twisted at the hips as Dylas turned to lock his golden irises onto Doug’s Gray ones. Surprise flashed across his face, and then his expression crumpled into a barely mediated sneer. The black, furred ears of the half-monster twitched irritably and his long, glossy tail, pale blue-lavender to match his hair, lashed back and forth with his half-roused temper. He tucked a hand towel into a pocket in his work apron and stalked over to where Frey had Doug trapped in his worst nighmare.

“Table for two?” Dylas growled, his graceful eyebrows drawing the hard line of his disapproving attitude as he glanced down at Doug and then away again.

“No thank you, unless you’re going to sit down together.” Frey answered primly, “Doug has something he needs to tell you... _don’t you?_ ” She added, elbowing him in the ribs. Dylas’ eyes hardened again as he looked down into Doug’s beet-red face, and flushed red, himself. What was that? Anger?

“Yeah?” He challenged, “Well, make it quick, you pint-sized twerp! I’m working, you know.”

If there was one thing that was as likely to influence Doug’s reaction as his affections for the other boy, it was their habitual animosity. The instant Dylas’ Jeering tone hit his pointed ears, Doug mirrored the angry expression on the half-monster’s face and spat out a retort on pure reflex. Some habits can just take the wheel, if you’re not careful.

“Is that right, gelding? ‘Cause it looks like you’re just _horsing_ around.” He felt his own mouth bend into a grin as Dylas’ nose wrinkled and he bared his teeth instantly in fury. He seized Doug’s collar and growled through clenched teeth.

“Wha’d’you say, shrimp?” Doug grinned even more fiercely. Some kind of giddy little insanity was bubbling up in his chest. No one could rattle Dylas’ cage like he could. It gave the diminutive dwarf a wild sense of satisfaction to see how easily the horse-boy could be unsettled by his jeers and taunts. Momentum and habit carried him right through another round. Meanwhile in the background, Porcoline was leaning so far over the counter staring at them he was practically draped over it, staring with starry eyes full of anticipation. Sheesh! What was he waiting to see?

“Aw, Jeeze! Your oat breath is killing me, you swayback nag!” He pretended to cough and gag. Dylas tightened his grip on the smaller boy’s collar and lifted his heels off the ground an inch or so, hissing through his teeth:

“Is that all you came to say, you pebble-brained idiot?” he sneered.

Suddenly, Doug’s heart rate tripled and he felt his eyes and wild grin widen. Dylas’ angry expression faltered in confusion for a half a heartbeat.

“No, it isn’t!” Doug heard himself say. Oh gods… oh, gods and dragons this was it… this was happening. Some part of him felt like it was holding his breath even as he felt his chest heave to take in air.

“Well then _spit it out_ , you little runt!” Dylas snarled, shaking doug slightly in frustration. Back at the kitchen counter, Porcoline squealed and clamped his hands over his mouth, practically exploding with restrained excitement. He couldn’t run now… Frey would expose him either way, and having Dylas find out from anyone but him was just… lame. He owed him more than that, didn’t he? After all the run-around he had given his crush, didn’t he at least owe it to him to confess in person? Doug’s mind raced.

‘I can’t do this! Not yet! I’m not ready!’ One part of him screamed. All the while, another part of him, the part that was apparently at the helm, deciding what his mouth was doing, ignored these protests.

‘Oh no, oh no…’ the reluctant part of Doug thought, as he felt his lungs pull in another breath and his mouth betrayed him, forming the words he’d feared he’d say as soon as he had seen those golden eyes turn to look at him. The wild, crazy grin and frantically wide eyes never left his expression as Doug blurted out, loudly:

“I-I LOVE YOU!” he shouted then froze, staring at Dylas like a petrified deer.

“Well I—“ Dylas had reflexively begun a retort before the meaning of the words hit his brain and his own eyes grew wide as dinner plates and his mouth opened and closed like a carp as he went rigid in shock for several seconds. A few meters away, Porcoline swooned with a happy sigh and collapsed behind the counter. Meg appeared and knelt down beside him, rolling her eyes and then looking over at the two bickering boys with a smile… and she wasn’t the only one.

Everyone was smiling at them. All around, a good two-dozen people wore the same satisfied, approving, and slightly humored expression.

“Finally.” Frey mumbled under her breath, but Doug could hear the smile in her voice, too. Dylas turned crimson as he looked around in a hurry, silently taking note of the room’s reaction just as Doug had been doing before they locked eyes again.

“I…” Dylas tried at speech, but mostly he was blinking dumbly with his mouth hanging open. Doug swallowed, mind blank, just waiting… That face he adored with it’s elegant eyebrows and the long scar on his cheek and those gorgeous golden eyes shifted from shock to disbelief, and from disbelief to hopeful apprehension. Then, he donned an expression of sheepish relief, brows curved upward as he stammered in a broken voice: “I… l-love you too… runt.”

The breath that filled Doug’s lungs belled out his chest and he wondered if his grin had stretched right off his face. He felt as if he could have sprang twenty feet into the air and whooped loud enough to call down the moon. Instead, he seized Dylas’ collar and pulled him into an ecstatic kiss, pressing his lips to his mouth for the first time and laughing out loud when he pulled back and saw the blushing, startled, happy face of his rival-turned-boyfriend.

The world had changed alright… and he owed Frey big time for making it happen while he was still young. He’d repay her in kind, though. He’d make _her_ confess to her would-be-lover, too, just as soon as he figured out who it was. But first…

Doug grinned wickedly at his flustered Dylas, kissed him once more quickly, and prepared a string of words on his tongue to ruffle his feathers one more time.

"Can I call you 'Big D'? He grinned to a particularly scarlet, and very mortified Dylas.


End file.
